Obama Inauguration in Times Square

One of the first things I did when I moved to New York was to spend a weekend protesting in Times Square. I’d been in the city for just under a month at the time of the election and since I didn’t officially have an address yet, I hadn’t registered to vote. But that fall of 2000 was important enough that I voted absentee in PA before my registration expired. And then a few weeks after the election I found myself yelling and screaming at a fraud in the white house.

This year couldn’t be more different. This year I spent the day in Times Square photographing excited New Yorkers watching Barak Obama’s inauguration to be president of the United States. When Bush came on the huge monitors people were singing that Steam song. Every time Obama appeared on the screen the people went nuts. Whether they were alone or in groups, everyone was riveted on the monitors. It wasn’t the crazy jubilation of election night but more of a sober, clear positivity. Everyone seemed to be looking forward with hope and optimism, just like all those posters suggested. It was pretty impressive.

You can see the complete set of images from this afternoon here